While your editorial, “Laptop dancing in Fullerton” [Commentary, Dec. 11], addresses the legal and constitutional issues of the Fullerton School District’s proposal to require parents to lease $1,500 laptops for their children, I’d like to point out that Macintosh laptops are among the most expensive on the market. By selecting them, the district makes the problem seem costlier than it is.

If each student requires a $1,500 laptop, then, of course, the district can’t afford them. But by equipping classrooms or computer labs with basic desktop computers, the per-student cost of access could be much lower.

For example, Indiana has announced a program to equip high schools with a desktop computer for each student. One model being tested costs $292 plus the cost of a display monitor. Some classrooms or labs could also be kept open for student “homework” use after school by hiring monitors or perhaps by using parent volunteers.

Putting the burden on parents to lease computers only masks the real problem of how to fund technology in our schools, though I understand why Fullerton is trying to do this. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, California ranks 51st out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in computer access for public school students.

What do we have to do to bring California’s public schools into at least parity with those of other states?Roger Hiles Fountain Valley

The ACLU is right this time

I have not always agreed with American Civil Liberties Union positions, but this time there is no doubt in my mind that it has taken the high road on laptops in the classroom. It is hard to imagine that the district will be able to sustain its position under the state law or pressure from the ACLU.

This matter should be settled before it reaches the courts, which would save the district the extensive cost of litigation to put an end to the program or modify it in a legal fashion.

If the district wants a laptop on every 6th grade student’s desk, it should pay for it.Marv Gonsior Fullerton

Educational overkill

I disagree with the use of laptops in Fullerton School District’s elementary schools for the following reasons:

The kids will not be able to legibly write on a piece of paper anymore.

I don’t think many hours a day of looking at a computer screen can be good for young, developing eyes.

Then there is the excuse, “The hard drive ate my homework.” Kids drop things. What do you do when you drop your laptop?Earle V. McNeil San Clemente

A technological future

The editorial is incorrect; in fact, the parents are buying these laptops. The only reason why laptops stay registered under the Fullerton School District is for the software upgrades and maintenance agreement with Apple. After the 3-year period, the parents do not turn them in; rather, the laptops are transferred out of the Fullerton School District and into the parents’ name [see correction on opposite page].

We can’t understand why the Register cites money as the main issue with this program. What about our children’s future? The fact is people are actually moving to Fullerton so their children can have a better education with this technology program.

Read the facts of this program on the Fullerton School District’s Web site (http://www.fsd.k12.ca.us/). Select the 1.1 Laptop program, and then select the FAQs.Ron and Jackie Williams Fullerton

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